I have a one-owner 1995 XJS that has been garaged and carefully used with 38K miles on it, but the driver's side (left) door suddenly will not latch and stay closed.
I have removed the outer latch, cleaned and greased it, and re-installed it, but this had no effect; the door will not close shut. I removed the door card and see that the inner and outer handles and control rods seem to be working properly, so suspect that the outer door latch is at fault. As Jaguar has sealed the outer latch unit closed with a pressed pin rather than with a screw, I can't tell for certain, but I suspect a spring within the mechanism has detached or stretched.
Having found no source of a new OEM part from either Jaguar Heritage or several Jaguar parts suppliers, I have ordered a used part to replace the original. The only used part I could find is from a car with 130K miles on it, so I don't anticipate the latch lasting very long.
My question is: Are there any instructions for opening and fixing these sealed door latches, or is there a company that can rebuild one?
Thank you for any information.